Tomorrow's New Dream

Forty years since their inception, Jean-Paul Bluey Maunicks Incognito continue to forge ahead with Tomorrows New Dream, closing out a third straight decade in which they have released at least five studio albums of feel-good soul, jazz, and funk. Longtime fans knowledgeable about the groups roots might long for another cover -- the album LP is nothing but originals -- but connections are made with some greats. Phil Perry joins Maysa to lead the crystalline For the Love of You (akin to Masterjam-era Rufus & Chaka Khan, not an Isleys update), and Take 6 add their goosebump-raising harmonies to The Weather Report (another Incognito tune paying tribute to a band only in title). Past and current group members and a few guests trade off on the rest of the material. Joy Rose opens up the album on Haze of Summer, an uplifted number that beams like a sequel to Jill Scotts Golden. Imaani fronts the breezy Now That Ive Found You, one of the finest Earth, Wind & Fire homages. Along with Mario Biondi, they outclass the relative newcomers, but the infectious positive energy never dips, consistent and familiar, somehow never mechanical. ~ Andy Kellman